Tackle

Tackle

The bottom of Gigantica is light in colour and to help your rigs blend in we recommend your rig components match the Korda ‘Gravel’ colour. A full range of Korda terminal tackle, including Spods/Spombs, Markers, Korda Touchdown, Tapered Subline, Safezone Leaders and terminal end tackle is available in the on-site shop. Prices are identical to UK prices but we ask you to pay in Euro's. We cannot accept card payments at this time.

Concealing your line is important because the water is deep so line angles are often steep so much of line is off the lakebed. The water is gin clear, you can see the bottom in over 10ft, so slack/semi slack lines are essential. We still see anglers making mistakes when sinking their lines. So.......

Here's how we do it:

Ensure you hit the line clip on the cast and feel lead down until it hits bottom. If you don't feel the lead touchdown it may have landed in bottom weed and a recast is recommended.

Gently sink the line under the surface by holding the line in your finger tips and ensure that the lead is not dragged along bottom.

Plunge the tip section underwater and rest the butt on buzzer for at least 5 minutes, which wikll take the line from just under the surface (where a bow can form) to midwater.

Now start to pay small amounts of line off the reel without moving the tip section, this allows heavy lines to sink to the bottom without being dragged by surface tow/cross winds. Continue to pull line off the spools until the lines stop tightening which means it has sunk as much as it can. Only then do we put the rod on the rests and attach a light bobbin (Stows are perfect for this).

We do not recommend back leads or flying backleads because of the line possibly laying across weed in the swim.This can cause problems if the fish weeds you up so we much prefer to use the slack line method explained. If you don't feel confident to set the line yourself our bailiffs will be happy to show you how its done.

We recommend 15lb Touchdown in green, it sinks really well, blends in with the green tinged water and is man enough for the task.

We have a minimum line diameter of 0.40mm now because so many fish were being lost in the weed using light lines. We recommend 15lb Korda Touchdown in Green, it sinks really well, blends in well with the green tinged water and is man enough for the task. Check your line diameter before you leave the UK, as a rule 10lb & 12lb line is always too thin.

Shockleaders have been banned because too many people were cracking off on the cast which leaves a "live" rig in a weedy lake. Sadly we have lost fish over the years which had become tethered by cracked off rigs. We do allow tapered mainlines as long as the thinest part is at least 0.33, so the Korda Tapered Subline (0.33-0.50) is allowed.

We insist on Barbless hooks only at Gigantica (we recommend a Size 4 Korda Curve B, or Wide Gape B). This is to assist a lost fish to free itself of the rig in the event of a crack off/cut off. Lost fish more often than not, go for cover, and they can become entangled as a result. Without exception, every fish found trailing line has a barbed hook in its mouth.

Provided

Each angler at Gigantica is provided with an Unhooking Mat, Landing Net, Weight Sling, Weigh Staff, Weigh Scales, Refresh Bucket, Distance Sticks and Carp Care Kit. So please do not bring any of these items with you. We do require a 50 Euro deposit for these, which will be returned to you at the end of the week providing the items are not damaged.